


The Bottom of an Empty Glass

by Royswordsman (RoySwordsman)



Category: Captain America, Iron Man (Comic), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Excessive Drinking, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-28
Updated: 2012-02-28
Packaged: 2017-10-31 21:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/348325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoySwordsman/pseuds/Royswordsman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony drinks whenever he's in a bad place, that's common knowledge. Steve is always there for him and attempts to pull him out of his funks, but what happens when Tony breaks a promise to him and breaks Steve's heart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bottom of an Empty Glass

Steve took a step into Tony’s room, pulling off his mask as he did so. After spending all night at the base doing mission reports, he needed some time to unwind. Though the truth was, he just wanted to spend some time with Tony, the one person who made all of his pains slip away the instant that his he set his eyes upon him.  
Though Tony had been going through a tough time, especially with the downturn of the economy; it meant that Stark Industries was taking a turn for the worse. Of course, the super soldier was fully aware that Tony was going through problems, he could tell by his sudden recoil from society and spending most of the time in his company building working on new machinery.

A sudden strong smell wafted up Steve’s nose the instant took a step closer to the bed and his sapphire blue eyes darted to the bottles that were scattered across the sheets. Instantly, pain filled heart and he began to remember about what he had heard.

In the past, Tony had battled against his alcoholism; it was an addiction, a painful addiction that had caused him to lose so many things. Of course, he would’ve loved to blame Obadiah for him resorting to finding solace at the bottom of a bottle, but in the end, it was his fault. It was his method of coping and because of it, his reputation was ruined. He had to rebuild it all from scratch, which he did, just barely and with the help of everyone else around him, though deep inside that coping mechanism was lurking, waiting to be released again. The recession was the perfect opportunity, and as much as Tony tried to put on a brave face and fight it, it was all too much in the end, especially since he felt so alone – with Steve constantly out on missions whilst he was left alone to cope with it all, especially since most of the missions consisted of Steve having to spend time on the SHEILD aircraft carrier out at sea. The burden that was left on his shoulders was far too much and truthfully, no one else could really understand that. His father had left such a powerful legacy, and it was his duty to step up to the duty that was left before him, whether he liked it or not. Either way, he was just afraid of the return of ‘Stark International’, just the prospect of returning to those days, his company returning to its worst time, it made him revisit that mechanism that he had used to survive; drinking.

It was Steve’s fear to walk into a room and to find that Tony had regressed again. Of course, he had always said that he would be there for him, all he wanted to do was to trust the millionaire to stay away from bottle, that was the one thing he asked for and now his trust had been betrayed. Tony was destroying himself. He walked closer to him, tapping the side of his shoulder with his gloved hand.

Tony turned over with bloodshot eyes, looking up at Steve and clearing his throat,

“Oh hey Cap…” He said in a groggy voice.

“What are these?” He asked, pointing to the bottles with a stern expression,

“I’m sorry… I got a little carried away.”

“A little carried away!? Tony! Look at you, you’re a mess. How long have you been drinking?”

“How long have you been away?”

“Don’t you dare pin this on me! Tony… I trusted you.” He said with a heartbroken look in his eyes as he knocked one of the bottles off the bed, letting it smash on the floor. The sound made Tony jump and he sat up properly, glaring at Steve,

“I don’t need you to baby me, Rogers. I’m a grown man!”

“You’re an alcoholic, that’s what you are. I refuse to deal with this.” He said, turning his back to him, “I asked you to avoid drinking for your own good, now you’re falling back into the abyss.”

“You keep god damn leaving, what else am I supposed to do? I need your support and you’re not there.”

“I have work to do, saving people comes first.” He said, glaring over his shoulder,

“And when will I ever come first?!” Tony yelled.

“Selfish…”

“I’m not, even god damn superheroes need people to care for them.”

“Since when have you wanted someone to care for you..?” Steve said coldly,

Tony was hurt by Steve’s words, “Steve. Stop being stupid. We’ve been through this, we’re together now-”

“Not anymore.”

Tony’s eyes widened and he stood up, running over to Steve and grabbing his arm tightly, “God dammit I can’t lose you too.”

“I trusted you and now you have lost my trust… Sort yourself out before you try talking to me again, Stark.” Steve replied, pulling away. The truth was that he was hurting too, he just didn’t want Tony to throw everything away again and for him to fall into the same trap again just hurt him even more. He wanted to trust him, but he had been betrayed. He just wanted the best for Tony, even if it meant some tough love was called for. He walked out quickly, shutting his eyes as he heard Tony call after him.

As the millionaire watched the superhero in blue walk away, he buried his face in his hand, his other hand hitting the ground beneath him as he accumulated cuts from the broken shards of glass, letting the blood trickle down his clenched fist. All he truly wanted was Steve and without him, he really did have nothing…


End file.
